The present invention relates to body cavity drainage devices and the like, and more particularly, to a drainage system for a collection of body fluids including, as preferred, disposable, evacuated containers.
When a patient has a deep wound, or a large abscess, osteomyelitis or another collection of body fluids such as serum, blood or pus in the body, drainage catheter tubing (commonly known as wound tubing) is utilized to remove the collection. The wound tubing can be made of flexible plastic, such as polyethylene, or inert elastomers, such as silicone rubber or the like. The wound tubing is fabricated to have sufficient stiffness so that the collection can be removed through it by suction without collapsing the tubing. Suction is provided, as, for example, by an evacuator shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,115,138.
The wound tubing typically has a large number of drainage ports or perforations for communication between a drainage lumen or bore of the tubing and its exterior, with the drainage ports being defined in a distal portion of the tubing. The wound tubing is passed through healthy, intact tissue adjacent the collection site in such a manner that the proximal portion of the wound tubing is positioned exterior of the patient, while the distal portion lies at the collection site. A desirable method of emplacing wound tubing is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,908,664 and 3,993,080.
Various significant problems are involved with prior art wound tubings, their associated evacuators and vacuum containers and the methods of their use. First, with reusable vacuum containers, it has become a practice to empty the containers at bedside. As a result, the possibility of contamination of the wound tubing is great.
Once initially filled, the containers are contaminated so that a treating physician cannot later obtain accurate wound drain cultures. Also, the maximum vacuum obtainable with typical reusable vacuum containers is about 30 mm Hg. This is insufficient to provice drainage for most applications and tends to promote clogging of the wound tubing, thereby requiring premature withdrawal of the wound tubing fom the wound site.
Further, because of a distaste for emptying the reusable vacuum containers, hospital personnel tend to service the containers infrequently. This also tends to promote clogging of the wound tubing, because the vacuum container frequently operates well below a maximum vacuum.
As a result of the problems associated with reusable vacuum containers, many physcians have chosen to utilize mechanical pumps connected to the wound tubing. These pumps do not overcome the disadvantage of requiring periodic emptying of containers, and, in addition, limit ambulation of patients because of their bulkiness. The maximum vacuum known with such pumps is about 50 mm Hg to 120 mm Hg. Experiments have been disclosed with about 750 mm Hg as a vacuum, but collapse of the wound tubing was reported.